A new school year is quickly approaching, and campus staff are ready for it (or will be very soon). With all of the activity of preparing curriculum, opening classrooms, prepping to greet students, and getting facilities into ship shape – don't forget about reviewing your health and safety protocols. Back to school often means back to germs. And right on the heels of that comes winter germ season – bringing annoying respiratory germs (like common colds, COVID-19, and RSV), dreaded flu bugs, and even more dreaded, norovirus and other "belly bugs."
Have you assessed your hand sanitizer, hand soap, and surface hygiene products to see if they're up for the task of killing or washing away germs over another school year? You should be thinking beyond researching products before purchase – it's also key to review what you have in stock and establish standards for what your school wants in hygiene products.
Have you evaluated your hand sanitizer and hand soap lately?
There were many unintentional negative effects of the FDA's looser temporary guidance on hand sanitizer that was in effect from 2020 through March 2022 – safety, efficacy, and even aesthetics (who wants their students and staff to have to use a soap or sanitizer that leaves their hands sticky or stinky or worse – irritates their hands?). Sadly, some of these issues are still of concern over three years later, including some dangerous hand sanitizers sitting in school storerooms (the FDA's list of hand sanitizers to avoid has grown to almost 600!). If you have hand sanitizer left over from 2020 – when you bought whatever you could get your hands on – it's likely expired and should be disposed of safely (for more on this, read the blog "Does Hand Sanitizer Expire?").
Another dangerous practice that popped up during the pandemic is using open-style or refillable dispensers for hand sanitizer (which are easily refilled with any bulk-sized jug of sanitizer). Refillable dispensers have been a known public health and safety risk for decades in hand soap – the CDC issued guidance1 against this practice in 2002 and the WHO2 did the same in 2009. This style of dispenser was repurposed for hand sanitizer when supply was constrained in 2020. Unfortunately, while supply chain issues have subsided, bulk dispensers have hung around. There are many issues with these refillable soap and hand sanitizer dispensers, including – most significantly – the efficacy and safety of the product. Further, since hand sanitizer is an FDA-regulated drug, mixing different formulations is illegal, but this is an easy mistake to make with open refillable dispensers.
Have you read the label of your surface products?
Like most facilities, schools increased their use of surface disinfectants during the pandemic and may have a supply leftover. But do you know what to look for on the label of those bottles to ensure they're doing their job while not irritating students' and staff lungs or leaving behind chemical residues that can cause skin irritation or allergies? Students spend a lot of their day in school, so they have ample time for exposure to any chemicals left behind after cleaning and maintenance. Watch out for precautionary statements like DANGER, WARNING, or CAUTION.
Here's your homework
- Find all of the hand and surface hygiene products you have
- Read their labels
- Read this guide: "Best Practices for Education: Hand and Surface Hygiene"
- Reread the labels – are you feeling differently about whether you want to continue using this product? Do they follow the best practices laid out in the guide?
While some schools, possibly including yours, are striving to apply the valuable lessons learned from the pandemic regarding the significance of hand hygiene and surface disinfection, others are falling behind in providing the necessary trustworthy solutions for students, educators, and staff. Consider what solutions are right for your school. Learn more about the issues presented above, along with what to look for in hand sanitizer, hand soap, and surface disinfectant, in this guide to the "Best Practices for Education: Hand and Surface Hygiene."
In addition to this 'Best Practices' guide, GOJO has many protocols, training materials, and other tools to support schools. Please contact your GOJO distributor, click here to schedule a meeting with our representatives, or find a distributor now.
For now, here are some additional blogs that may help: